What Does the Barnes Injury Mean for Maryland's Chances?

So what does everyone think about the injury to Kevin Barnes? As I wrote in today’s newspaper, Barnes is likely lost for the season, which is a significant blow to Maryland’s defense and an unfortunate end to the career of one of Maryland’s defensive leaders. Coach Ralph Friedgen could elaborate on the nature and extend of Barnes’s injury after practice and after Barnes confers with doctors.

The interesting thing is: Look at where the remaining opponents rank nationally in passing offense:

North Carolina State 80th
Virginia Tech 114
North Carolina 78
Florida State 74
Boston College 81

For that matter, look at the rest of the conference in the pass offense category:

This is certainly a blow to the defense, but many teams often face adversity like this during a season, and they find ways to overcome it. Even after Barnes left the game on Saturday, the Terps continued to shut out Wake for two more quarters. Considering that Wake is ranked 53 in pass offense, ahead of the rest of the conference, I do not think that losing Barnes will make too much difference the remainder of the season.

The injury scares me if anybody else in the secondary gets hurt. But if you remember back in 2001, a young freshman named Dominique Foxworth was forced into action against Clemson on the final home game of the season due to injuries in secondary...

Florida St. still has athletes on the edge, so this injury will have an effect on that game.